Medicalizing Overweight/Obesity

1.Overweight/Obesity is a disease
statethat has reached epidemicproportions (65% of the population) that
ultimately results from a constant state of consuming more energy in the form
of food than expending energy in the form of physical activity.

Long-term use of Systemic Corticosteroids for
Inflammatory conditions (Prednisone and others)

Overweight/Obesity and its co-morbidities usually coexist
with other physical and mental health problems in any given individual.
Therefore, in order for overweight/obesity treatment to be optimal, it
must be individualized taking these other conditions into
account.

Clinically significant permanent weight loss, defined as a
5 to 10 % reduction from original weight, reducing the negative health
consequences of overweight/obesity, is only rarely been accomplished by
lifestyle interventions, such as diet and exercise, alone. A significant percentage of the total
number of prescription and over the counter medications used in this
country is for the treatment of the co-morbidities of obesity/overweight,
yet they do absolutely nothing to help individuals lose weight.

The rational and clinically supervised use of prescription
medications to assist individuals permanently lose weight can play an
important role in the treatment of overweight/obesity. This approach, combined with diet and
exercise, has been shown to be up to 4 times more effective in helping
individuals permanently achieve a clinically meaningful weight loss than
diet and exercise alone.

The medical approach to
directly treating overweight/obesity not only improves the general health and
well-being of these individuals, but ultimately cuts down on the total number
of medications required to treat the negative health consequences
(co-morbidities).

Weight loss medications are not intended to replace
lifestyle interventions such as a high fiber, low fat, calorie restricted
diet and daily exercise. Rather, by reducing abnormal cravings and
appetite and improving satiety, and, in some cases metabolism, these
medicines simply improve the chances in any given individual that these
Lifestyle Interventions are successful in helping them permanently lose
weight.

This is Part One in a series of articles on the topic of
Medicalizing Overweight and Obesity, so make sure to look at the next issues
for the continuation.